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Aussie gets Champ Car win

Scoresheet

An Aussie didn't win the Masters, but a race driver from Down Under dominated the Champ Car World Series on Sunday.

Will Power did what golfer Stuart Appleby couldn't do -hold on to a lead and beat the field. Power won the pole, then won by nearly 17 seconds in the first Las Vegas Grand Prix through the downtown streets.

Power, the series' rookie of the year in 2006, gave Team Australia owner Derrick Walker a birthday present -his first Champ Car win since Gil de Ferran's victory at Portland International Raceway in 1999.

Champ Car runs at Long Beach (Calif.) on Sunday, in Houston on April 22, in China on May 20 and at PIR on June 10.

Water under the bridge

Beaverton's Ben Crane was too rusty to make the cut at his second Masters, but got some TV time hitting out of the water on the famous par-3 12th (with shoes on, because it's slippery in Rae's Creek, he says). Crane hadn't played in five weeks because of a back injury and shot 79-78 in the brutal opening rounds, but he plans to tee it up again in this week's Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

His friend and Steamboat Streams, Colo., ski buddy, Zach Johnson, is the new Masters champion.

Football elsewhere

At Nebraska, former Grant High star Ndamukong Suh is a 6-4, 305-pound sophomore practicing at three different defensive line spots and likely to start at one of them. … Boise State has four quarterbacks auditioning to replace Jared Zabransky. Senior Taylor Tharp has been the sharpest in spring ball, with sophomore Nick Lomax from Lake Oswego, junior Bush Hamdan and freshman Michael Coughlin probably more in the mix for the No. 2 spot. But a lot could ride on Saturday's spring game. …

Joey Harrington, the Atlanta Falcons' new No. 2 quarterback, doesn't have rushing statistics quite as flashy as those of starter Michael Vick. Harrington, 28, has carried 128 times for 369 yards (2.9 average) and no touchdowns in his NFL career. Vick, 26, has 527 carries for 3,870 yards (7.3 average) and 21 TDs.

Names in the game

Julian Illingworth, a 2006 Yale grad from Lincoln High who now is playing professionally, successfully defended his U.S. men's national squash title last month at Multnomah Athletic Club. …

Hoseki Kofe, a freshman at Southern Oregon University from Jefferson High, and Oregon State's Zach Heath will play for the USA Rugby team in the U-19 world championships this month in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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